At E3, back in 2014, we saw VR gloves from Control VR that provided mechanical resistance to simulate grabbing a physical object.

According to The Verge article, “Fine-grained finger control is what sets Control VR apart from more general motion harnesses or Kinect-style controllers, putting it in the vein of ’90s “datagloves” (yes, like the Power Glove). When you enter the body of an astronaut in the E3 demo, you can stretch your hands in front of you and see them move with little lag, or make a fist and watch your virtual fingers curl tight. You can use the forefinger of one hand to tap a button on the other side of your spacesuit. You can get similar effects with the Leap Motion, but it can’t match the accuracy or ease of motion.”

Dexmo is a wearable mechanical exoskeleton that captures your hand motion and provides force feedback. It breaks the barrier between digital and real and gives an authentic sense of touch.

Dexmo Classic captures eleven degrees of freedom for the hand and three degrees of freedom of motion for the thumb and the split and bending of the other four fingers. This data, along with the forward and inverse kinematic algorithms built in SDK, provide developers with an accurate hand model skeleton, especially for the thumb. Your detailed hand gesture can be input to VR instantly.

We have GoPro to thank for putting us in the POV experiential mindspace. What other camera has made the POV “feel like you’re there” angle so widespread? The “GoPro angle” has become a standard in experiential video capturing.

“From incredibly versatile, powerful cameras, to mounts and accessories for nearly any activity, to the GoPro App and software — GoPro makes it easier than ever to capture and share your world like never before.” (the GoPro website)

Dextra Robotics, Control VR, and other datagloves are worn on one’s hands, and yet we do not call them “handables”. We do not call the GoPro camera a “seeable.” These devices enhance the way we experiencelife — let’s not slap reductionist labels on them too hastily. The complexities of our relationship with these technologies and the possibilities of their use in our daily lives has largely yet to be seen. And that is a very exciting thing.